Shakespeare Reconstructed with John McGee, PhD

The Shakespeare Essay that Got Me Blocked by a Jordan Peterson Academy Professor

In response to my critique of his talk on Romeo & Juliet, lecturer Andrew Doyle called me “woke" and an “ideologue," then deleted all his tweets and…

Oct 5 • 

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September 2025

Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet—According to @PetersonAcademy

In his lecture for Jordan Peterson Academy, Andrew Doyle calls Romeo & Juliet's love "true" and "transcendent"—a view that's preposterously at odds with…

Sep 22 • 

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June 2025

The Other Chorus in Romeo & Juliet

In Act 2, right after the lovers’ first meeting, the Chorus calls Romeo shallow and irrational, equates his two loves and says he would have "died" for…

Jun 18 • 

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May 2025

"Apple in China" by Patrick McGee

Nothing to do with Shakespeare, but excited to share that my younger brother Patrick has just published his first book!

May 15 • 

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April 2025

The Second Antidote in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Does Demetrius end the play drugged? No

Apr 18 • 

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January 2025

The Meaning of Star-Crossed

Shakespeare wasn’t calling Romeo and Juliet victims of Fate. He was calling them blind, reckless seafarers—and that changes everything

Jan 21 • 

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September 2024

Ugly People Shouldn't Procreate

The self-evidently satirical message of Shakespeare's “procreation sonnets”

Sep 10, 2024 • 

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August 2024

Mixed Up Lovers—And Mixed Up Critics

No, Shakespeare never romanticized two suicidal, sex-driven Italian kids

Aug 21, 2024 • 

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500+ Subscribers!

#BypassingTheGatekeepers

Aug 21, 2024 • 

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Join me on Notes!

I’ve become more active on Substack Notes, and would love for you to join me there!

Aug 15, 2024 • 

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A Shakespearean Upskirt

At Juliet's window, Romeo voices one revealing fantasy about her

Aug 8, 2024 • 

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June 2024

The Trafficking of Juliet

An event—a transaction—scholars never discuss

Jun 27, 2024 • 

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